Frank Turner talks about illegal downloading
Frank Turner has posted an update with his thoughts on illegal downloading:
Obviously you can't un-invent the internet (nor would I want to, it's one of humanity's highest achievements), and obviously illegal downloading happens, and is here to stay. To be philosophical about it, the industry structure that has successfully rewarded musicians and others (engineers, producers, PRs, agents and so on) for their labour since the 1960s is in the process of dissolving. A situation where people labour and are not reimbursed is untenable and unjust.
Firstly, while I am confident that we will realign, it'd be naive not to notice the danger that a generation of people are coming up who do not understand why they should pay for music at all. It seems churlish to restate, but let's put it this way: recording isn't free, instruments aren't free, session players, producers, engineers, artists aren't free. My time isn't free either - I work hard and I expect to get paid for it.
Secondly, the idea that by stealing music from the internet you're somehow crusading for justice against the big bad record labels is absolute fucking bullshit and needs to be stamped out. Britney Spears and David Geffen aren't going to downsize their condo's because you didn't pay for a Fugazi album.
Check it out here.